Grandilingulata is a Calymmian organism, found in the Gaoyuzhuang Formation of China. It has been tentatively placed inside Eukaryota due to its complexity and size, alongside other fossils from the formation.
Description
Grandilingulata is a tongue-shaped fossil with gently curved sides, growing up to 30 cm in length and 8 cm in width.2 As it dates from the earliest Mesoproterozoic, its exact classification is unknown beyond a probable eukaryotic affinity. It is known from twelve specimens, two from the uppermost section and ten from the middle section of the Gaoyuzhuang Formation.
Etymology
The genus name Grandilingulata means "large tongue", referring both to its tongue-like shape and its large size for organisms of the time period. The specific name qianxiensis refers to the location of a newly discovered fossiliferous location in Qianxi County, Hebei.3
References
Chen, Kai; Miao, Lanyun; Zhao, Fangchen; Zhu, Maoyan (15 July 2023). "Carbonaceous macrofossils from the early Mesoproterozoic Gaoyuzhuang Formation in the Yanshan Range, North China". Precambrian Research. 392. Bibcode:2023PreR..39207074C. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2023.107074. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301926823001146 ↩
Zhu, Shixing; Zhu, Maoyan; Knoll, Andrew H. (17 May 2016). "Decimetre-scale multicellular eukaryotes from the 1.56-billion-year-old Gaoyuzhuang Formation in North China". Nature Communications. 7: 11500. Bibcode:2016NatCo...711500Z. doi:10.1038/ncomms11500. PMC 4873660. PMID 27186667. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4873660 ↩
Chen, Kai; Miao, Lanyun; Zhao, Fangchen; Zhu, Maoyan (15 July 2023). "Carbonaceous macrofossils from the early Mesoproterozoic Gaoyuzhuang Formation in the Yanshan Range, North China". Precambrian Research. 392. Bibcode:2023PreR..39207074C. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2023.107074. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301926823001146 ↩